Peyton’s fifth straight three-TD game keys Broncos win in Cincinnati

Peyton Manning threw three touchdown passes for the fifth consecutive game on Sunday against the Bengals, as the Broncos went to Cincinnati and left with a hard-fought 31-23 win.

Manning wasn’t perfect on Sunday — both going to Cincinnati’s Terence Newman on passes intended for Broncos receiver Eric Decker — but he demonstrated once again that while he may say he’s not 100 percent healthy, he’s back to being one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and an MVP candidate. Manning is putting up numbers comparable to those of his four MVP seasons in Indianapolis, and his Broncos are 5-3 and in first place in the AFC West.

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton completed 26 of 42 passes for 299 yards and a touchdown, but he also threw an interception and was under constant pressure from Denver’s Von Miller, who sacked Dalton three times.

The 3-5 Bengals have now lost four games in a row, and they’re looking increasingly unlikely to return to the playoffs. But the Broncos are the clear favorites to win the AFC West, and if Manning keeps getting better, they might just be the best team in the AFC. With Manning running the show, Denver has what it takes to get to the Super Bowl.

randallflagg52 says:
Nov 4, 2012 4:22 PM
It amazes me that Marvin Lewis never finds himself on the hotseat. Guy is the definition of mediorce. Great coordinator but just a very average head coach.

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Marvin Lewis might have had better results if Mike Brown was not the general manager. It took years for him to final hire a couple decent people in the scouting department. I think Lewis has his indoor practice facility on its way finally.

Imagine a cheap version of Jerry Jones and that is what Marvin Lewis has to deal with.

rgwhodey says:Nov 4, 2012 4:57 PM

phantom pass interference call helped the clear favorite Broncos, when do the refs start being held accountable for their blatant bad calls?

Gotta admit, Bengals has a good defense shutting down the run and 2 picks. At the end, manning yet again shows why he’s the best at what he do. As a fan, im gonna assume every broncos game to be tough because the minute you start to think these are easy wins on their schedule looking ahead, you’ll be dissapointed in the event of a lost. Next week vs fathers is gonna be a tough one, they have a lot to prove in front of a home crowd.

D plays great against a hall of famer. Offense can’t block ANYBODY, nobody but Green can get open and running game is not a factor! Please don’t tell me about Gresham or the law firm and their games, Gresham is not in the top 2/3 of TE’s in the league and we won’t even discuss the law firm. I would put Peerman in at HB…put TLF and Leonard in when he needs a blow…we know one thing, this isn’t working! Its too bad, the D deserved better, but they continue to give up the big play…its hard to watch. Tell me, did anyone think Peyton wouldn’t score after the Bengals took the 20-17 lead? WE knew what was coming…the D collapse as usual! Man this is hard to watch week after week!

Jay Gruden should have got a HC job before he slowly began turning into Bob Bratkowski…. Man he us getting predictable

voyager6 says:Nov 4, 2012 6:40 PM

Gruden is only doing what Lewis allows. Same for defense. When is the last time we saw a corner or safety blitz? It is just the same four guys up front not getting it done. Lewis is afraid of giving up the big play and if you send a DB, there is a chance that the QB will find a deep open receiver. So Lewis is ruining Zimmer, too. The D was allowed to blitz occasionally last year. Apparently not this year.

It cracks me up to hear haters say “oh well you list to NE and HOU so how can they be AFC elite?” Well tell me this.. If we would have played Houston or NE right now do you think the outcome would have been the same? A guy that’s been outta football for over a year and with a new team needs to find a rhythm and chemistry with the team, and at 5-3 I’m plenty happy. Wait till we are in week 15 and tell me if you feel the same! And you can’t say our defense hasn’t played balls out. We’re number 8 in D and 3 in offense. BRONCOS BABY!

“How can New England be elite when they lost to Arizona and Seattle and Baltimore????” By the way, the teams New England lost to have a combined record of 15 – 11. The teams Denver lost to have a combined record of 20 – 4.

Like the broncos, the patriots had a slow start too. Both teams have what looks like an easy schedule the rest of the way and it may come down to these two for the number 2 seed, not gonna rule out the number one seed also.

It feels bitter sweet to watch the broncos win games by more than 3 points and looking like a true unit. Looks like decker and Thomas is going back and forth on having big games, next week its Thomas turn to have a productive game. Manning is right when he said its better to have scenarios when you’re down scores so that you could learn different ways of comeback. If you have a team who just cruises into the playoffs with no tough tasks like the Texans are now, they’re not gonna know how to play from behind and will make mistakes after mistakes trying to make a comeback.